Why did Spain Decline? (Short Animated Documentary)

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Sources:

The Fall of the Spanish American Empire by R. A. Humphreys

‘Exempt from time and from its fatal change’: Spanish Imperial Ideology, 1450-1700 by Eva Botella-Ordinas

The Decline of Spain (1500-1800): conjectural estimates by Carlos Álvarez-Nogal and Leandro Prados de la Escosura.

[abdel_rahim]

‘I am firmly convinced that Spain is the strongest country of the world. Century after century trying to destroy herself and still no success.’
- Otto von Bismarck

[AlextheRambler]

I think I've watched around 50 of your videos over the past few weeks, love them!

[Storeenzo]

I always found Spanish-Ottoman rivalry underrated and poetic.

[mastrorick]

Spain vs The Ottomans
Winner: The Dutch

[firmanimad]

The Ottomans and Spain was kinda perfect as rivals, like two sides of a mirror. Both emerged by ousting their rival religious powers from European lands, and they peaked and declined at similar times.

[stevenwills]

Spain was a bad EU4 player and kept using military points to suppress rebellions without investing in tech.

[martinmehaudy]

Another item to consider in Spain's decline was the fact that as gold (and silver) came in hordes from the Americas, spaniards people became rich but their industry started to be replaced by cheaper imports. This inspired Adam Smith's work. It is pretty much the same story with later British Empire (imports from Germany and the US), and more recently with the US (imports from Asia, most importantly China). When an empire/country starts to focus more on finance than production, declining happens.

[nebeskisrb]

From around Charles V coming to power to the end of the war with France after the 30 Years War, Spain was pretty much always at war. Most people point out to the monetary cost of this, but I remember reading in a book (I think it was "The Rise and Fall of Great Powers" by Paul Kenedy but I am not sure as it was a while ago) that the population of Castille fell by nearly 1 million people during this period as well.

[andrewbachman]

One of the most important naval battles in history
History Matters: It was expensive

[Misia]

So the lesson in short: It`s expensive to maintain an empire. Sometimes too expensive.

[alexcardenas]

1:20 Top ten brutal deaths in the anime

You have made the most neutral and objective video I have seen on the subject (coming from English-speaking youtubers), congratulations. The only mistakes I see is exaggerating the bankruptcy of the kingdom after the army (since Spain came out of that war better than England) and omitting some important things that are always omitted in international historiography and that is that Spain even managed to recover several of its lost territories in the War of the Spanish Succession; for example reconquering southern Italy from the Austrians after several wars (Charles III himself was the king in The Two Sicilies before the death of his brother made him heir to the Spanish throne). It is true that after the Napoleonic Wars, the Spanish Bourbons of Italy gained greater autonomy due to the weakness of their mother kingdom, until the Italian reunification happened.

[mafiousbj]

When people talk about the Spanish Armada we often forget to mention that the following year the British sent an armada of their own against Spain to capitalize on the momentum but also failed spectacularly

(But didn't go bankrupt because the crown didn't finance all of it, it was a joint venture with the Dutch and nobles)

[stephenarnold]

Spain is the first modern example of what economists call "resource curse". The flood of silver into Spain, instead of financing productive enterprises, created a rentier class of hidalgos who had no interest beyond "noble" ease and status and who acquired vast estates worked by near-serfs. In such a country a middle-class doesn't grow

"Every good Spaniard should piss always looking at England." blas lezo

[Lateatnightpioneers]

The Spanish Empire was not a colonial empire such as the English, French or Dutch, but on the contrary, it was the last empire of the ancient type, closer to what Rome or Greece were. 300-400 years of domain based on miscegenation, alphabetization and conversion of different peoples; construction of universities, cathedrals and cities worldwide; a huge cultural and artistic explotion; deliberation of new phylisophic, teologic and juridic debates in human history (like f.e., if all humans were equal); discoverments that changed the conception of the world; opening of new shipping routes; creation of an undefeated infantry for 2 centuries; expansion of the Hispanic culture throughout the Atlantic and Pacific ocean (called "the spanish lake" at that time) as Rome did throughout the Mediterranean... All of this, in a world as big as the one we know today, but using a technology from 5 centuries ago.

From here onward, european empires had a colonial model based on mercantilism, slavery, and large-scale production, creating factories or plantations in overseas possessions, instead of a civilizing reproduction of their society. The former were a global market, the latter a global kingdom. European empires shouldnt be generalized by the fact of having overseas territories, because not all of them were the same.

[Artur_M.]

Also, turns out that pouring tonnes of gold and even more silver out of the colonies has this little downside called inflation, so the very source of Spanish power was also a source of a problem from the start.

[RM-thur]

Spain also had territory in Asia & Africa. The Philippine revolution & the Spanish American War were definitely part of Spain’s demise.

[DoctorAnonymous]

As a Spaniard i put this video every month to remind me what NOT to do when i become president.


And to cry.


To cry a lot.

[hubert]

2:18 actually, the island of Sicily was given to Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. He later exchanged it with Austria for Sardinia under treaty of The Hague which concluded the War of the Quadruple Alliance.